Waxing machine for skis



Sept. 2, 1969 H. REY 3,464,381

WAXING MACHINE FOR SKIS Filed Sept 2a, 1967 Fig 2 INVENTOR Henri REY ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,464,381 WAXIN G MACHINE FOR SKIS Henri Rey, Hautes Roches, Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland Filed Sept. 28, 1967, Ser. No. 671,299 Int. Cl. B056 1/06 US. Cl. 118-202 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A waxing liquid coating device for skis which includes a rotating brush rotating partially in the waxing liquid, the improvement consisting in periodically rotating the brush at predetermined time intervals and durations between the coating operations of the ski to prevent the waxing liquid to harden on the brush.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention relates to a waxing machine for the sole of the skis.

Description of the prior art Machines for waxing skis are known which comprise a casing carrying a series of parallel and coplanar rollers adapted to be rotatably driven and on which a skier may stand with his skis in order to be transported by the said rollers perpendicularly to their axis of rotation from one end to the other of the said series of rollers, at least one tub containing a waxing liquid for skis, at least one distributing cylinder for coating the sole of the skis with the waxing liquid, the said cylinder being positioned in a parrallel arrangement with the rollers and in between two of the said rollers, and a mechanism for driving the said rollers and the said distributing cylinder which may be operated by a coin operated device.

Machines of the type known do not always provide a waxing of a good quality.

This results from two shortcomings When the machine is stopped.

(a) The part of the distributing cylinder in contact with the atmosphere cools down and the layer of wax which remains on its surface becomes hard and cracked;

(b) The thermostat which is used to maintain the temperature of the waxing liquid constant and uniform in the tub cannot have its expected efliciency when the liquid is stagnant. A difference of temperature of 20 may be noticed between various parts of the liquid which means that some zones in the liquid may harden while other zones at a higher temperature may emit disagreeable fumes.

Another disadvantage of the known machines results from the fact that the distributing cylinder is solidly mounted on the casing of the machine. This prevents the cylinder from coating the parts of the sole of the skis which are upwardly raised at the front of the skis. Furthermore, the known machines of this type are not easily transported on location where they are used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The new machine according to the present invention overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages.

The machines which are of the type defined above, are characterized, according to the present invention, by a device for controlling the rotation of the liquid wax distributing cylinder at predetermined time intervals and during predetermined periods while the machine is not solicited into operation for waxing the skis. This solicitation into operation by a skier is usually made by a coin operated machine.

3,464,381 Patented Sept. 2, 1969 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the casing of the mechanism.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The machine comprises a casing 1 which is opened at its upper part. The casing 1 is subdivided by lateral walls between which drums 2-6 are mounted at the level of the casing. All the drums 2-6 are located at the same height and adapted to be driven at the same speed by a motor (not shown).

Between the drums 2 and 3, are mounted two scrapers 7 and 8 adapted to scrape the sole of the skis and eliminate the snow which may have adhered thereunto. The two scrapers 7 and 8 are disposed on both sides of a rotating brush 9. The brush 9 is mounted and adapted by its rotation to eliminate the layer of old wax on the sole of the skis.

A tub 10 is resiliently mounted between the drums 3 and 4 by means of springs 11. The tub 10 contains a waxing material 12 maintained in a liquid state by an electric heating device 13. A liquid distributing cylinder 14 is immersed in the tub 10 and is rotatably driven by a motor (not shown), so as to coat a layer of wax on the sole of the skis while the said skis are moved from left to right, from one end of the series of drums 2-6 to the other end.

The maximum thickness of the layer of wax which is applied on the cylinder 14 and proportionally on the skis may be controlled by a scraping blade 15.

The tub 10 is heated by a heating element 13 as schematically shown in FIG. 1. The walls of the tub are made of metal so as to obtain a uniform temperature around the tub and inside the liquid.

The temperature of the heating element is controlled by a thermocouple (not shown) which is mounted on the external surface of the tub.

The tub 10 is resiliently mounted on the casing 1 so that in a position of rest, the cylinder 14 extends above the plane tangent to the upper part of the drums 2-6. When the skis come in contact with the cylinder 14, the raised tip at the front end of the skis becomes covered with the waxing liquid by the portion of the cylinder 14 which extends above the upper level of the rollers 2-6. When the skis move over the drum 14, the tub 10 and the drum 14 may be slightly lowered by the skis due to the resilient suspension 11.

This elastic supporting arrangement of the tub 10 and the cylinder 14 enable a particularly smooth, uniform and regular coating of the waxing liquid. A different embodiment which is not shown in the drawings consists of a tub which would be solidly mounted on the casing while the cylinder 14 would be resiliently mounted in the tub. This alternative embodiment would lead to similar results as the embodiment described above in greater details.

In order to improve the contact of the waxing liquid on the sole of the skis, the latter are preheated by a hot air blower 17 located below the skis and in front of the cylinder 14.

The Waxing liquid covering the sole of the ski after the latter has passed over the cylinder 14 is solidified by a cold air blower 18 located below the skis.

The device may be operated by a coin operated ma chine located in a cabinet 19 having on its front face a slot 20 to receive the coins, a pocket 21 for rejecting the coins or for providing change for the coins. A pilot lamp 22 indicates that the device is electrically connected, and a second pilot lamp 23 illuminates when the temperature of the waxing liquid is sufiicient for the proper waxing operation.

In the above-described device, the electric heaters 13 of the tub 10 are constantly maintained at their operating temperature from the moment the installation is connected to an electric source of current. On the contrary, the drums 2-6 of the distributing cylinder 14, the brush 9 and the blowers 17 and 18 are actuated only when a skier wants his skis waxed, that is, when he places the required coin in the slot 20.

It is possible that a relatively long period may take place between the moment two skiers are using the waxing device. In such a case, the waxing liquid remaining on the portion of the cylinder 14 above the level of the liquid itself may solidify and consequently a poor quality waxing results. In order to prevent the formation of a solid crust of wax on the cylinder 14, the device includes a periodic actuating device 24 for controlling the driving of the cylinder 14 for predetermined time intervals and durations while the waxing device is not used, that is, when the coin operated machine 19 is not actuated. In this manner, the cylinder 14 is periodically rotated in the hot waxing liquid 12 contained in the tub 10, which enables to eliminate regularly, that is, to melt the layer of solidified Wax on the cylinder. The opening at the upper part of the casing 1 is obturated by a perforated plate having openings therein to enable the drums 2-6, the brush 9, the cylinder 14 and the scrapers 7 and 8 to project above the said plate.

In order to transport the ski waxing device at the upper end of the ski lift for skiers, the casing 1 has a luge-shape provided with three longitudinal skates 25, 26 and 27 generally constituted by bent tubular elements.

With this particular arrangement of the casing 1, it will become possible to hook the waxing device to the ski lift by means of a shaft (not shown) which may be removably fixed to the sides of the casing 1.

Further, it will be possible with this same arrangement to bring down the waxing device at the end of the ski season by letting the casing slide on the hill.

The term wax or waxing liquid used in this application includes any greasy or low friction product which is adapted to be coated on the sole of skis.

I claim:

1. A device for waxing skis while they are on the feet of the skier, the device comprising a luge-shaped casing having:

conveying means for conveying the skier upon the upper surface of the said casing,

a tub of wax and heating means for maintaining said wax in a liquid state,

a liquid distributing cylinder partly immersed in said tub and adapted to apply a layer of wax on the sole of a the ski on the feet of the skier,

a first driving means for simultaneously rotating the cylinder and actuating the conveying means,

a second driving means for periodically rotating said distributing cylinder when the said first driving means is inactive whereby the wax adhered to the upper part of the cylinder is kept in a substantially liquid state.

2. A machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the casing has an oblong shape, the ends of the bottom of the casing being raised in view of the central part of the said bottom.

3. A machine as recited in claim 2, wherein the bottom of the casing is constituted by two longitudinal skates.

4. A machine as recited in claim 3, wherein the skates are constituted by two bent tubular elements.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,537,511 1/1951 Coulombe l1872 XR 3,008,449 11/1961 Hauser l182l2 3,045,639 7/ 1962 Kurlander et al. 118-72 ROBERT W. MICHELL, Primary Examiner R. I. SMITH, Assistant Examiner 

